Barbara Lombardo writes about journalism, local news and anything else that strikes her fancy. She is executive editor of The Saratogian, The Record and the Community News, sister papers in the Digital First Media family. Follow her on Twitter @Barb_Lombardo.

What she really should have asked is: Who is going to look
after Barb at work now that Beverly is leaving The Saratogian?

That has been a foremost question in my mind since Bev informed
me that her five-year plan to return to her roots in Buffalo, now in about its
15th year, was kicking in, for real.

Bev, whose last day at work is Sept. 20, is known around The
Saratogian for handling a lot of things over the last 25 years.

Most recently, she has been part-time editor of our publication distributed in the Wilton-Gansevoort area, WG Life (winning a state
Associated Press award as special interest weekly, as well as a national
headline award for “Taking a Whack at Lizzie’s Legend”); editor of various
elements of The Saratogian; the go-to newsroom person on IT issues when the IT
guy isn’t around (and sometimes when he is); the person who collects and ships
the newspaper to be microfilmed; and the person who keeps the newsroom supply
drawers stocked with proof-reader copy paper, toner, gel-tipped pens and
notebooks (three sizes and types — the narrow pocket-size style for most
reporters, legal pads for Paul Post, and spiral pads for me).

Finding the perfect spiral pads is just one of many things Bev
does for me.

When a coffee cup convention has clustered in the corner of my
desk, I’ll come in one morning to find them magically washed, dried and back on
their shelf. When my entire desk (except for the space reserved for coffee
cups) is covered with paper, Bev (who can’t stand the clutter) will force me to
manage the mess — volunteering to deal with and dispose of as much as she can
herself. She will remind me when I’ve been oblivious to newsroom people and
things that I ought to be mindful of. She laughs and shrugs when she asks
whether I like her new glasses (after wearing them for two weeks without a peep
from me), and I respond, “You wear glasses?”

It isn’t just me she has looked after. Over the years she has
had a huge hand in Saratogian get-togethers, holiday decorations and gifts to
workers celebrating employment milestone. The cafeteria refrigerator might
still contain my yogurt from 1987 had she not regularly initiated a clean
and dump.

When Bev sets her mind to do something, she does it. Fast.
While her initial five-year relocation plan was sidetracked, it was never derailed. So when the plan
was again set in motion, Bev’s Wilton house was sold, a new one was purchased
in Buffalo, a moving company was hired, and boxes were packed — all in the time
it took me to do a load of laundry and lug the basket upstairs with plans to
match the socks very soon.

And she did all this while searching for silver shoes to wear
to her son Bryon’s wedding on Sept. 29, by which time she will already be out
of her Wilton home and her furnishings en route to Buffalo, closer to her
roots, her son Dale III and her two grandsons, Patrick and Thomas.

I may not notice when Bev (or anyone else) gets new glasses,
but I can tell you how long Bev’s been at The Saratogian, because she started
when I was pregnant with my first son, who is now 25 years old. She called to
complain about something her nonprofit group was having trouble getting into
the paper. She could handle that job better than whomever was doing it at the
time, she assured me, having done it in her previous locale.

“Oh yeah,” I replied, or something to that effect.

The rest is history.

In the realm of organization and neatness, Bev and I are yin
and yang. But on matters that matter, we are not so different. We’re the same
age, and we both have two sons. Over our time at together at The Saratogian,
we’ve survived countless transitions and turnover. We’ve lost our mothers.
We’ve experienced much pleasure and occasional angst raising our kids (and I’ve
gotten a peek through her at the sheer joy of grandparenthood).

I need to tell Louise that Bev has been much, much more than a
“cleaning lady,” more than a professional organizer, more than a colleague. She’s
been a friend, and for that alone, she will be missed.